Lekki coast: Fear of erosion worries communities, environmentalists

The serenity and allure of the beautiful beaches surrounding the Lekki coast near the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos, is virtually giving way to fear and apprehension ,all thanks to the frequent ocean surge, Daily Trust reports. The old, the young, men, women and infants filed out en-masse recently at Barb Wire, one of the numerous […]

The serenity and allure of the beautiful beaches surrounding the Lekki coast near the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos, is virtually giving way to fear and apprehension ,all thanks to the frequent ocean surge, Daily Trust reports.

The old, the young, men, women and infants filed out en-masse recently at Barb Wire, one of the numerous communities on the Lekki coast, to voice out their anxiety, fear, apprehension and worry over the rising sea waves and the danger it  poses to their community. For years, their existence has been threatened as well as their means of survival. They seem to have been left in the lurch ,and in apparent perpetual apprehension over the threat posed by the ocean surge.

At the moment, three lives have been lost in the community and over 100  costly  coconut trees adorning the beach area were all gone, according to findings by Daily Trust. This is the precarious situation the residents have found themselves as they live in perpetual fear of erosion.

The Barb Wire Community is not the only place affected along the Lekki coast. Several other coastline settlements in Lekki have been touched and threatened by the rising sea levels in recent past. For instance, the Barb Wire community is just next to the popular Alpha Beach before Lafiagi village which had been torched in the past before the intervention of the Lagos State Government, which erected granite sea groins from the Victoria Island to Alpha Beach. This intervention was said to have provided succour for the distressed communities. 

But this ‘temporary’ intervention did not cover Barb Wire community on the same Lekki Coast, as the community is now crying out  for help and intervention by the government, especially the Federal Government. This is why members of the community led by the Baale (traditional ruler) and other leaders of the community staged a peaceful rally to draw  government’s attention to their plight. 

 

The rally spearheaded by a Non-governmental organization, Lekki Urban Forest and Animal Sanctuary Initiative (LUFASI) was tagged, “Save the Lekki Coast, Protect the shoreline” with children, minors, men and women of the community pleading with federal and state authorities to save their community from extinction.

Our correspondent reports that the beach area in Barb Wire is almost washed away by erosion, and the remaining coconut trees are on the verge of collapse. This prompted the community to cry out to the government.

The Baale of the community, Mr. Sikiru Ayinde said the community has been experiencing the problem for the past  years which is threatening their existence. “For the past two years, we have been living in fear of this erosion. The inhabitants of this community were originally relocated from Kuramo Beach, and since we moved here the ocean has been disturbing us. Last year when there was ocean surge, we lost three people. All the coconut trees are almost gone.”

Another community leader, Apese Babatunde said when the community relocated three years ago to Barb Wire, many houses were standing but they are all gone thanks to the erosion.

“We want the government to come to our aid.  Our life is not at rest,” he said, “Government should do something urgently. All our houses are gone and over 100 coconut trees washed away.”

As a temporary measure, many thousands of sand bags were  placed at the beach area  with the support of other concerned environmentalists and activists ,who also gave helping hands by pulling the sandbags to the beach areas.

Mr. Desmond Majekodunmi said the problem should be treated like an emergency situation by both the state and Federal Government, describing the erosion in the community as horrendous.

 

He urged the Federal Government to deploy the ecological fund into saving Lekki coast from the threat of extinction.

He said, “A huge sea surge is tearing away the only protection that they have from the sea which is the beach. If the beach goes there is no protection. When there is no protection, the sea will take out your community totally.

“The only permanent solution is shoreline protection. Government has to live up to its responsibility, and do what they need to do which is to protect the shoreline. They need to have a whole series of groins, dozens and dozens of groins all the way down the coast. This is the only way. The erosion won’t stop until the coast is protected.”

He recalled that the Federal Government was  called upon seven years ago without any response, adding that Government can turn the coastal areas to huge revenue earners, through the construction of many base areas which tourists can visit from all over the world.

“It has wonderful economic benefits.We can have wonderful beach fronts all the way down, but we need to protect the beach. Once we protect the beach, that is when we get the benefits”, he said.

Majekodunmi added, “The efforts of the Lagos state government to protect the shoreline from VI all the way to Alpha beach by erecting granite sea groins is highly commendable indeed, especially when one considers that this has been financed solely by the LSG despite entreaties made to the federal authorities over seven years ago.

“However, the erosion will always continue eastward of the groins, due to the west to east ocean current flow. It is imperative that these groins are erected all the way down the coast or we shall be courting a disaster of unprecedented proportions on this fragile coastline, where the shoreline beach buffer between the ocean and the low lying inland area of Lekki is now only 30 metres in some places. Global warming and climate change that are causing sea level rise and more violent storms, are making the situation even more of an emergency that must be addressed urgently.”

 

Also speaking Director, Technical Programmes of Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC), Dr. Onoja Daniel who was also part of the team ,stressed that the situation of Lekki Coastal areas deserves the concerted efforts of both the Federal and State Governments to save the Lekki coast.

Several studies carried out by various bodies and environmentalists in the past have warned of the danger posed by erosion around Victoria Island and Lekki beaches. Though the state government responded with the erection of the sea groins up to Alpha Beach, it is imperative for the Federal Government to join hands with the state government to nip the potential disasters in the bud. This, environmentalists say, would not only protect the shoreline and ease the worry of the local community but be a source of revenue to the government.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare Samuel disclosed that the state government is already on the verge of extending the sea groins erection, saying the project is being handled by the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure.